Mental stress is a problem that most of us face almost every single day. Stress keeps a person feeling tense, moody, dejected, and unenergetic that it takes a toll on the overall health and quality of life of a person.
If you’re experiencing stress from time to time, you should find ways on how to manage it. Thankfully, there’s a natural way to combat stress: cannabidiol (CBD). In this article, you’ll learn about CBD and why it’s an excellent natural stress reliever.
What is Stress?
Before we dive into the capabilities of CBD as a stress reliever, let’s first define what stress is and why we experience it.
Stress is the body’s response to any kind of threat or situational pressure. In a positive light, stress can help you stay alert and focus in the face of danger or doing certain things.
However, stress can also have a negative impact if you experience it excessively and habitually. Sometimes, it can ruin your mood, productivity, health, and quality of life.
Stress Associated with Depression and Anxiety Disorders
A person suffering from mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety, typically experience physical and psychological stress.
Depression is a mental condition that negatively affects how you think, feel, and act. People with depression are typically dejected, sad, hopeless, and stressful. This condition can affect the daily life and relationships of the person suffering from it. Suicide is not uncommon with people with depression.
Anxiety is excessive worry or fear of things or events (real or imagined). This mental health condition causes a person to go into fight-or-flight mode, thus triggering the stress response and stimulating the stress hormones of the body, namely: cortisol, adrenaline, and norepinephrine.
Situational Stress
Stress also results from situations that we encounter in our lives. When you’re facing a tough situation, your stress levels go up. The effects of situational stress are similar to those of anxiety and depression, depending on the situation you’re experiencing.
Some people can handle situational stress easily. But others find it difficult to manage. Cognitive/behavioral therapy and new ways of thinking can make this kind of stress more manageable.
Let us Define Cannabidiol (CBD)
Cannabidiol (CBD) is an essential chemical compound in cannabis plants. It’s a type of cannabinoid that has many potential therapeutic benefits, such as relieving anxiety. Moreover, CBD doesn’t cause “high” when taken, unlike its counterpart tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
How Does CBD Affect the Body?
There are many different receptors in our body. CBD interacts with two of these receptors, namely cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1) and cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2), which are both parts of the endocannabinoid system. CB1 and CB2 are involved in different physiological processes, such as pain sensation, appetite, mood, and memory.
Research suggests that CBD also stimulates serotonin production. If you have high serotonin levels, your mood will improve, and you won’t be stressful. Since CBD increases serotonin levels, many people are now using it as a natural alternative to treat anxiety- and depression-related mental stress.
What CBD Product/s Should I Use for Stress Relief?
There are a plethora of options regarding CBD products. According to this Green Roads CBD review, the fastest way to consume CBD for stress is by vaping it. Another popular option is a CBD oil tincture. With this CBD product you can apply it topically, ingest drops of it, or add it as an ingredient to your food.
If you want to use CBD oil to relieve stress, keep in mind to store it in a room with a temperature of around 19 °C. You should know the CBD concentration as well as your tolerance to it to determine the serving size. Hence, make sure to read the instructions on the product label.
For starters, it’s an excellent idea to start with small serving size. You can then increase the amount over time if your body is already tolerant to it. As mentioned previously, you can add CBD oil to your food. CBD is great to mix in your salad dressing or superfood smoothie to combat mental stress.
Side-Effects of CBD
An individual who takes CBD as a treatment for stress may experience a variety of unpleasant side-effects. Here’s a list of those side-effects.
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Dizziness
- Dry mouth
- Mood changes
- Changes in appetite
- Diarrhea
- Low blood pressure
Is CBD Safe?
Despite the side-effects mentioned above, cannabidiol (CBD) is generally safe for treating anxiety- and depression-related stress. A lot of people are using CBD-based products nowadays because of CBD’s therapeutic benefits. Likewise, many of them can attest to the fact that CBD doesn’t result in medical complications.
Takeaway
Mental stress can be debilitating if you experience it excessively and habitually. That’s why if stress already affects your life negatively, it’s time that you use CBD to manage it. CBD can be useful as an alternative stress reliever, especially to stress associated with depression and anxiety.
